Their analysis showed that the number of people with high blood pressure who were getting treatment had nearly doubled from 32% in 1994 to 58% in 2011.

At the same time, the proportion of people who were getting their blood pressure back to normal levels trebled from 11% to 37%.

"If we treated people in 1994 like we did in 2011, we reckon that would have saved up to 100,000 major events (heart attacks, strokes and deaths)," Prof Neil Poulter, one of the researchers, told the BBC.

He added: "It's going extraordinarily well really, it's a hell of a lot of lives saved."

The study estimates that 80% of patients will be controlling their blood pressure by 2022 if the current rate of improvement continues.

Better drugs, increased awareness and financial incentives for doctors are thought to be behind the improvement.

Heart disease is still the UK's biggest killer, causing 82,000 deaths each year.